The present invention refers to a removing device for liquid in a flexible packing and to a flexible packing used for accommodating a liquid.
Such a removing device is known e.g. as a drinking straw for removing beverages from a beverage bag.
The simplest form of a known drinking straw consists only of a tubular straw element produced from a plastic material that is unobjectionable from the point of view of the law relating to food production and distribution, said straw element being preferably produced by extrusion. The inlet of the known drinking straw is normally cut at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis of the drinking straw so as to form an insertion tip penetrating through the beverage bag. The beverage bag into which the drinking straw can be inserted is provided with an insertion area. This insertion area is of such a nature that it permits easy penetration of the drinking straw. For this purpose, the flexible packing is normally provided with a circular opening in the insertion area, the diameter of said opening corresponding approximately to the outer diameter of the drinking straw. Prior to the first insertion of a drinking straw into the opening, said opening is closed by an interior foil covering said opening.
The foil is normally implemented as an interior foil and, consequently, secured to the inner side of the envelope, e.g. by a welded joint or an adhesive joint. The interior foil is e.g. a polyethylene foil. Alternatively, said interior foil may also consist of a composite foil. The flexible packing may consist of an arbitrary envelope material.
For example, flexible packings are known whose envelope consists of a single-layer or a multilayer foil. Alternatively, the envelope of the flexible packing may also comprise a paper or cardboard material which has been preparedxe2x80x94e.g. by providing a waterproof foil or coating on the inner side thereofxe2x80x94in such a way that the envelope is prevented from softening, thus guaranteeing that the liquid will be kept safely in said flexible packing.
When the drinking straw is being inserted into the beverage bag, it will penetrate through the interior foil so that the content of the bag will communicate with said drinking straw and so that the drinkable liquid can be sucked from the beverage bag through said drinking straw. The known drinking straw is, however, not fully sealed with regard to the beverage bag so that dirt or small insects may penetrate into said beverage bag. Moreover, the danger exists that microorganisms or oxygen may be introduced via the drinking straw into the product accommodated in the flexible packing. This will contaminate the product, e.g. reduce the keeping quality of the beverages. In addition, the drinkable liquid may escape through the drinking straw. Such an undesired escape of drinking liquid will especially occur if the internal pressure of the drinkable liquid in the beverage bag is increased unintentionally via the flexible envelope of the beverage bag.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a removing device for liquid in a flexible packing by means of which the above-mentioned drawbacks are avoided. It is a special object of the present invention to provide a removing device for liquid in a flexible packing which permits said flexible packing to be sealed in such a way that an ingress of dirt into the product accommodated in said flexible packing as well as an unintentional escape of the product can be avoided, and which also permits also easy removal of the liquid from the flexible packing.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a flexible packing used for accommodating a liquid with the aid of which good sealing relative to the removing device can be achieved and which is particularly suitable for use with the removing device according to the present invention.
In order to achieve this object, the present invention suggests a removing device for liquid in a flexible packing, comprising a tubular straw element including the inlet of the removing device and further comprising a closure element associated with the outlet.
By means of the removing device according to the present invention, the liquid product accommodated in the flexible packing can be removed from said packing via the tubular straw element. An ingress of dirt and microorganisms as well as of air and an unintentional escape of liquid can easily be avoided by the closure element associated with the outlet. The removing device according to the present invention is suitable for use with a large number of flexible packings, e.g. as a removing device for cardboard packings, which are nowadays frequently used for packing pasteurized milk or fruit juices, or for the bag-shaped packings which have lately become more and more common as light-weight packings that can be disposed of without taking up much space, said bag-shaped packings being used especially for toilet articles and cleaning agents.
Any closure element that permits repeated opening and closing of the straw element can be used as a closure element. A screw top or a hinged top can, for example, be used. The person skilled in the art knows other closure means, especially the so-called push-pull top which is frequently used for closing beverage bottles.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the closure element is formed integrally with the straw element, said closure element being formed on one end of said straw element as a cap that can be broken off. By breaking the cap off and by turning it, said cap can be attached to the free end of the straw element where it then serves as a closure element.
The straw element is preferably provided with an insertion tip on the inlet. Surprisingly enough, it turned out that this kind of removing device permits the removal of liquid from a flexible packing produced from a plastic foil or having an insertion area that consists of a plastic foil, the ingress of dirt, microorganisms and air being reliably and permanently avoidable at the same time. The plastic foil of the flexible packing or of the insertion area of said flexible packing elastically wraps itself around the circumferential surface of the straw element when said straw element is being inserted. This has the effect that the straw element it reliably sealed relative to the flexible packing. Since the removing device is also provided with a closure element by means of which the ingress of dirt, microorganisms and air can be prevented, the liquid can be kept stably for a certain period of time in the flexible packing without any deterioration of the product quality, with a removal of the liquid being permitted at the same time. For producing this effect, it is only necessary to use a straw element provided with an insertion tip at the inlet and having an outlet that is adapted to be closed by a closure element.
In order to save material, the straw element can be an extruded straw having a small wall thickness. For achieving the best possible sealing effect also in the case of this kind of straw element, it is suggested that, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the closure element should be provided with a counterelement which is connected to the straw element.
The straw element is permanently fastened to the flexible packing in that the inlet and the outlet have provided between them a fastening means with the aid of which the straw element can be connected to the flexible packing. The fastening means can consist of an adhesive layer applied directly to the straw element. For providing a connection between the removing device and the flexible packing, this adhesive layer can be provided on the envelope of the flexible packing or on adhesive tabs secured to the envelope of said flexible packing. Alternatively, adhesive strips may be provided between the outlet and the inlet of the straw element, said adhesive strips having one end secured to the straw element whereas the other end thereof is provided with an adhesive layer used for fastening said strips to the flexible packing. It is also possible to implement the fastening means as a snap-in connection. Such a snap-in connection can be used for fixing, e.g. the envelope material of the flexible packing or snap-in means which are secured to the envelope of the flexible packing. The removing device can be fixedly connected to the flexible packing with the aid of the above-mentioned fastening means.
Preferably, the fastening means consists of a locking element which is sealed from the straw element. By means of said locking element, a positive connection is provided between the flexible packing and a removing device inserted in said flexible packing. This positive engagement results in a reliable connection between the flexible packing and the removing device according to the present invention so that unintentional drawing out of the removing device from the flexible packing can be avoided.
According to a preferred embodiment, it is suggested that the locking element should be provided with a sleeve, the straw element being fitted into said sleeve. Such a sleeve can be formed integrally with the removing device. It is, however, also possible to produce the sleeve separately from the straw element so that the advantages according to the present invention can be achieved by means of a simple extruded straw element which is inserted into the sleeve and the outlet of which is closed by means of an arbitrary closure element.
For achieving simplifications with respect to production engineering, the present invention is further developed in that the sleeve is formed integrally with the counterelement. In accordance with a further preferred embodiment, it is suggested according to the present invention that locking fingers should extend in the axial direction of the sleeve, the free ends of said locking fingers having arranged thereon locking projections which taper towards the the inlet. The locking projections define sliding surfaces along which the envelope material of the flexible packing slides when the removing device is being inserted into the flexible packing. This has the effect that the locking fingers are forced radially inwards. When the locking projections have penetrated the envelope, they will recoil radially outwards due to the elasticity of the locking fingers so that they will abut on the inner surface of the envelope in positive engagement therewith. When the flexible packing has been emptied, the locking fingers can be pressed together by the user""s fingers from outside so that the removing device according to the present invention can easily be removed from the flexible packing together with the sleeve. Such a separation of the storage receptacle and of the removing device can be desirable for reducing the waste volume or for accurate waste separation according to individual materials or in order to permit the removing device to be reused.
In the case of an alternative embodiment, which also provides an efficient connection between the removing device and the flexible packing, the locking element has a frustoconical outer surface which tapers towards the inlet and which is preferably interrupted in the circumferential direction. When the removing device is being inserted into the flexible packing, the outer surface will here again act as a sliding surface causing the envelope material of the packing to stretch elastically. When the outer surface is interrupted in the circumferential direction, the individual circular segments can be forced radially inwards independently of one another so as to reduce the elastic strain of the envelope material, and, when the locking element has penetrated the envelope material, said circular segments can recoil radially outwards and abut on the inner side of the envelope in positive engagement therewith so as to prevent the removing device from being drawn out unintentionally.
The present invention additionally suggests that a stop extending essentially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the straw element should be provided between the locking element and the outlet. This stop prevents the straw element from penetrating deeper into the flexible packing than has been intended. The stop and the locking element can be formed as an integral component so that said locking element and said stop can easily be produced together in an injection moulding process.
The stop is formed by a ring in a simple manner. This ring can be held on the sleeve or on the outer surface of the straw element itself in positive or in frictional engagement therewith. If the stop is formed on a ring which is held on the circumferential surface of the sleeve or of the straw element in frictional engagement therewith, it will be possible to displace said ring axially towards the inlet, when the removing device has been inserted, so as to fix the envelope of the flexible packing between the locking element and the stop on the removing device. If, in accordance with an alternative embodiment, the stop is formed on a ring which is held on the sleeve or on the outer surface of the straw element in positive engagment therewith, e.g. via a simple plastic thread, this ring can be tensioned towards the inlet of the removing device when the removing device has been inserted. In this way, it is again possible to fix the envelope of the flexible packing between the locking element and the stop. The fixing of the envelope of the flexible packing has the effect that the removing device according to the present invention is held on the flexible packing, e.g. on a beverage bag, such that it is secured against rotation relative thereto. This can be desirable especially in cases where a screw top is used as a closure element.
The removing device can also be secured against rotation by means of other structural designs. The removing device can, for example, have a cross-sectional shape which differs from a rotationally symmetric cross-sectional shape in the insertion area. This cross-sectional shape can, for example, be square or elliptical. In addition, it is possible to provide a component which is fixedly connected to the flexible packing and which is engaged by the removing device inserted in said flexible packing, whereby said removing device will be held such that it is secured against rotation. This component can, for example, be a plastic ring which is welded to the envelope and which is provided with locking projections on the side directed towards the interior of the bag, said locking projections being engaged by complementary mating parts of a removing device to be inserted so that a rotational displacement is again effectively prevented.
A removing device which is easy to produce from the point of view of production engineering is obtained when the counterelement as well as the stop and the locking element are formed as an integral component. Such a component can be produced as an injection moulded part separately from a smooth extruded straw element. The straw element and the component comprising the counterelement, the stop and the locking element can be joined in a subsequent production step by means of an adhesive or by welding. When the stop and the locking element are formed on a sleeve, it is also possible to finish the removing device according to the present invention simply by inserting the extruded straw element into the sleeve or by pressing it into said sleeve, provided that the outer diameter of the straw element and the inner diameter of the sleeve are dimensioned such that both parts will be sealed from one another.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the closure element is adapted to be moved in the longitudinal direction of the straw element between a first position at which the outlet is closed by said closure element and a second position at which the outlet is open. The movability of the closure element in the longitudinal direction guarantees that said closure element can easily be actuated, if necessary also by the user""s mouth. Such an actuation of the closure element is imaginable especially when the removing device according to the present invention is used in the field of sports, e.g. during cycling.
For reliably holding the closure element either at the first position at which the outlet is closed or at a second position at which the outlet is fully open, the counterelement is preferably provided with two stops delimiting the movement of the closure element. In order to prevent an unintentional displacement of the closure element from its first, closing position, said closure element may be in threaded engagement with the counterelement at least at this first position.
For achieving the above-mentioned object with respect to the flexible packing, the flexible packing is further developed in accordance with the present invention in such a way that the foil will be of such a nature that it will sealingly wrap itself around the introduced removing device thus forming a tentlike shape. Normally, a sealing contact between the foil and the removing device is caused by elastic strain elements in the foil in the area of insertion of said removing device. For forming a substantially tentlike shape of the foil, when the foil is being penetrated by the removing device, said foil is secured to the envelope at a sufficiently large distance from the insertion area. Since the opening in the envelope preferably has a diameter that corresponds to the outer diameter of the removing device in the insertion area, also the point of fastening between the foil and the envelope is located at a sufficiently large distance from the opening.
Preferably, the foil has formed therein at least one fold in its initial state, i.e. before the removing device is introduced in the flexible packing. This fold has the effect that, in its initial state, the foil tightly covers the opening and that, even if the foil stretches only very little, it will wrap itself in a tentlike shape around the removing device introduced in the flexible packing.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses that, in the initial state, overlapping pieces of the foil are connected to one another in the area of the fold so that the opening will be covered tightly. Alternatively or additionally, the foil is connected to the envelope in order to achieve this. The connection guarantees that the foil will tightly cover the opening in its initial state so that no dirt, bacteria or the like will penetrate into an intermediate area between the foil and the envelope. The connection of the foil to the envelope or of one foil layer to the next is releasably implemented in such a way that, when the removing device is being introduced, said connection will be released so that the foil will bulge around the removing device in the desired tentlike shape.
Preferably, the foil has an elongate shape, the folds extending in the longitudinal direction of the foil. This configuration will support bulging of the foil in a tentlike shape when the removing device is being introduced in the flexible packing.
In accordance with an alternative suggestion, the foil consists of an elastic material so as to cover the opening tightly, the connection between said foil and the envelope extending, with respect to the elastic properties of the foil, in such a way that the foil sealingly wraps itself around the inserted removing device thus forming a tentlike shape. When a foil is chosen that stretches well, the location of connection between the foil and the envelope can therefore be arranged at a small distance from the opening, whereas a foil which stretches only very little will be connected to the envelope in such a way that the location of connection, e.g. the weld, is comparatively remote from the insertion hole. Quite generally, it can be said that the better the foil stretches, the smaller the distance between the opening and the point of connection between the foil and the envelope can be.